The Insider News

The Insider News is for breaking IT and Software development news. Post your news, your alerts and
your inside scoops. This is an IT news-only forum - all off-topic, non-news posts will be
removed. If you wish to ask a programming question please post it
here.

Get The Daily Insider direct to your mailbox every day. Subscribe
now!

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. AdamsYou must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.-Wernher von BraunOnly two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. AdamsYou must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.-Wernher von BraunOnly two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein

As opposed to them serving up content based on what they think your political biases are? Oh wait....

Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius

Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt

Daniel Roth takes a deep look under the hood of the new ASP.NET 5 runtime and the flexible, layered architecture that allows it to run on the .NET Framework, .NET Core and even the cross-platform Mono framework.

ASP.NET 5, printf with 'Modern C++", .NET Micro Framework, and all the rest of this month's MSDN Magazine.

Earlier today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, I provided developers a first look at the Windows 10 developer platform strategy and universal app platform. I encourage you to tune in to our Build conference in April for the full story.

"Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns, and calls me on and on across the universe"

While I welcome Universal apps, I cannot endorse the centralized store model. Especially with MS limiting creative freedom (although they make an exception for games). So if I decide, for example, to create an interactive novel, I'd better make sure its acceptable for a readership of age 12. Or lie and call it a game.

I hope they open up to side loading from other sources. Without that, I will have vast misgivings. Creative freedom should only limited by the laws of the land, not the laws some corporation decides fit their image.

Ultimately, I blame Apple for this approach. Sadly, everyone seems to have swallowed it whole.

"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough."
Alan Kay.

Okay, money maybe doesn't count for all the apps you can download for free, but every serious application will have a price, they always did, that's how it works, and that's where the cut-off will kick in. And 30% is a lot for someone that basically just provides a deployment platform. To circumvent this, I think this will lead ultimately to a model where the actual application is available for free in the store, but you will need a separate paid account/subscription to unlock its functionality. Microsoft themselves is using this practice with Office on the iPad, for example.

And control, of course. A centralized store is perfect for that.

What I also dislike is the advertisements within essential Microsoft apps, like the Weather app, for example. I mean, they come pre-installed with Windows, they are kind of part of the operating system, so you technically already paid for them as well - so why put ads in there?

To circumvent this, I think this will lead ultimately to a model where the actual application is available for free in the store, but you will need a separate paid account/subscription to unlock its functionality. Microsoft themselves is using this practice with Office on the iPad, for example.

Only if MS is sleeping at the switch. If not, it'll be like Steam where for the privilege of hosting your Free to Play game they take the same cut of your MTX/P2W revenue as they would if you were selling your game through their store normally instead of gouging whales.

Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius

Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt